Young Love
by Closely
Summary: Years after Yusuke's final death, Keiko goes back to speak with him, and runs into a friend or two on the way... including a certain black-haired boy! :P Review please! - One-shot. Complete. First YYH.


**Young Love**  
**Disclaimer: I don't own YYH**

Keiko looked up at the foreboding, iron fence in front of her. She gripped a purse in both of her hands, adjusting her dark skirt as if she were heading off to an important date with someone special.

Unfortunately, the way she was heading was anything _but_ a date.

She sighed heavily, deeply, and started back along the sidewalk again. Could she... could she really go _in_ there? Now that she was here... she wasn't so very sure anymore. Could she really carry out her true intent?

The brown-haired girl stopped again a few steps later when she reached the opening. Her cinnamon eyes stung with tears. Could she _really?_

Keiko was facing the iron gate again. This time, however, she was staring down a new path, a small dirt trail. She blinked rapidly, willing the tears away, and finally stepped forward, making her way through the opening in the iron boundary at a less-than-enthusiastic pace. Every step brought her closer and closer to her destination, but could she really go?

_Grey,_ she observed. The atmosphere hung heavy around her, and despite the mild temperature, she felt chills, of – what _was_ that? Was it dread? Ashiver ranup and down her spine.

She hesitated, paused in her step; her eyes trailed across the rows upon rows of gray tombstones, nondescript yet homely.

_No. I can't. I can't... Just can't go!_

Keiko spun on her heel, ready to bolt as soon as she reached the iron gates with her quick step.

But, of course, she didn't make it without interruption. Typical.

"Keiko!" A feminine voice called from behind her, an unforgettable voice. The aforementioned girl's brunette head fell in defeat, and she turned back around to look at the familiar form of Botan, her blue hair waving and bubblegum-pink eyes shining both with the aftermath of tears and a pleasant surprise, with a plastered a smile on her face.

The grin didn't reach her tawny eyes, though. She only just hoped that her blue-haired woman didn't seem as surprised, well, as surprised as the other would have thought, to see Keiko there.

"Botan. Wow, it's nice to see you."

The blue-haired girl approached. But, either way, Keiko had to wonder what her magenta-eyed friend was doing here, and why her eyes seemed puffy, red, and irritated of tears. It had been a long time since... She shook herself inwardly.

Being a grim reaper and all, however, Keiko would have never suspected her friend to come to such a place. As if she didn't see enough of the spirit world than to visit the dead.

"What are you doing here, Keiko?" Botan asked when her friend had said no more, pulling Keiko into a warm and friendly hug.

"I... dunno, Botan." Keiko's reply was muffled into the blue-haired girl's shoulder. It was a weak response. She hadn't planned on answering at all, or with such a dumb reply, but she could not say any more once she discovered she'd spoke. She just dissolved into tears, letting the warmth of Botan's presence calm her.

She didn't _want_ to be here. She shouldn't have come. She hadn't wanted to for a long time. But she had to. She had to say it, and it was either now or never. She could never work up the courage to do this... never again.

"Botan – Botan, I..."

Her magenta-eyed friend shushed her softly and held her tightly. "I don't think I need to ask, Keiko." Botan said instead. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." She trailed off. The girl already knew the brunette's intentions.

Eventually, Keiko composed herself long enough to wipe her eyes and chuckle half-heartedly at her fault. Even Botan had to swipe away a few stray tears from her cheeks.

"I—" What on earth could she say in this time of weakness? "...Thanks, Botan. I appreciate that."

"Oh, it's my pleasure, Keiko." Botan offered the brunette a watery smile. She looked back over her shoulder, in the direction she'd just come, with a nod. "Would you like some company?"

"Uh..." Keiko shrugged. "Sure." _I... don't know if I can do this alone..._ She worked up a half-smile at Botan's offer.

Botan made the effort to smile back at her friend, and reached out for her friend's elbow. She tugged at Keiko's arm, as she was sure they would never get anywhere if she let Keiko go at her own pace, when she didn't react immediately. She trekked off again in the direction she'd come, and oh, how she hated this route. She wished it'd never been created.

As Keiko advanced on the gravesite, Botan thought it wise to keep her distance from the barely coping woman. She let Keiko make her own way down the row, while she waited patiently at the end, watching her friend attentively, empathetically.

Keiko kneeled in front of the tombstone, and brought her hands together in prayer. Her eyes slid closed placidly; she could almost feel his presence lulling her. She wished him well, hoped he watched over her... prayed to see him again, in the afterlife, their next life – just to see him again.

And her cinnamon eyes examined the flowers lying at the foot of the grave again. Fresh flowers, roses. Could Botan have...? It was sweet of her to care; she appreciated it, and knew he did as well.

"I can't recall just how many times we've all thought –_I've_ thought – you were dead, you silly, silly boy. But this time... this time, I just know it's real. It just seems like the real – the real thing... and I'm having a horrible time believing it. So many times I... I'll..." Keiko paused, clearing her throat when her voiced cracked within her last words and wiping away a few involuntary tears. Awful he sees her cry, even in death.

_Sometimes I just wish it's another one of your tricks, another of your adventures... you knows, maybe you'll show up in a year or two... but no. I've seen it with my own eyes. _"I'll really miss you this time, much more than ever before, because this time I have a feeling... I _know_... I won't see you again in this life.

"My dear, my..." She sniffled, biting her lip momentarily as she wracked her mind for words to say, though she came to none. "My... words cannot describe..."

Her voice failed her again, and she stopped to let her eyes trail over the engraved tombstone.

_Here lies Yusuke Urameshi._  
_In loving memory_  
_Are his days,_  
_His attitude, his selflessness,_  
_And much, much more._  
_He was a_  
_Caring boyfriend, a wonderful son,_  
_And shall never be_  
_Forgotten._  
_"Young Love Never Dies." _

"And you're right, my love, my Yusuke; my love for you... will never die. You'll always be right here, whether in this life or the next." Keiko muttered, unsure she had even said it aloud. Had anyone heard her – had _he? _

She reached out to the headstone, as if someone would reach back, and her fingers traced over his name with a loving touch. Beloved Yusuke. Keiko's tear-blinded amber eyes looked to the sky just above her and couldn't help but wonder... was he looking back down at her?

Botan swiped the back of her hand over her eyes again, hearing Keiko's every word from her position, no more than seven feet away – as, unconsciously, she had inched closer in curiosity of her murmurings. Her eyes swept over the brunette's figure and she watched as Keiko's gaze turned heavenward and followed her gaze. She felt her jaw slacken.

Keiko was staring right... Botan saw the form perfectly. A handsome, dark-haired boy stood in all his translucent glory atop his gravesite, clad in his infamous green jumpsuit, watching as tears leaked from the corners of Keiko's cinnamon eyes. His hands seemed to itch to thumb them away. He only watched with a frown, however, and reached out an intangible hand to cup his love's chin in his palm.

His gaze shifted to Botan and he winked blithely, a hint of the grin he used to carry spreading across his features. He shook his head. "Never." He mouthed, smiling. A glimpse of the old Yusuke Urameshi shined in his chocolate eyes, turning them back to Keiko, and he grinned again, leaning down to brush his lips over her own lush ones.

And he dissipated into thin air.

Botan grinned and suppressed a squeal of happiness, dancing in circles at the display she had just witnessed. She looked at Keiko. By the dazed look on her face as she still stared up into the heavens above them, Botan knew she had seen it too.

**A/n: Okaaay, this was my first YYH one-shot. Do you guys like it? I think it's kind of cute. I was just watching YYH a few nights ago and, uh... It was the episode where... where, um, that fire started... and... **

I just loved it. –explodes in rapture–

**Tell me what you think:)**

**Brenko**


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